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Date: | Fri, 8 May 2015 22:08:51 -0400 |
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Pam:
I have no comment on the mating preferences of woodpeckes, but with gnatcatchers I'll offer a comment. My observations tell me that once completed with lichens spider-webbed to the exterior, gnatcatcher nests are so cryptic that they literally disappear from sight, even before leaf-out. I would think that house wrens, being cavity nester home-wreckers, wouldn't bother with non-cavity nesting sites.
Dan Best
On May 8, 2015, at 4:26 PM, Pam Unger wrote:
> This Spring in the Moses Wright Nature Area (a mini-preserve on the side of Dublin-Granville Rd. in Old Wrothington) I've witnessed 2 separate events that I've seen in the past but convinced myself my eyes were deceiving me. Now I'm sure. ONE: The Tale of the Mysterious Disappearance. I'd been watching a pair of blue gray gnatcatchers building their beautiful little nest--sort of like a giant hummingbird nest--high in a big old tree that hadn't yet leafed out. They appeared to be putting the finishing touches on it. Last time I went, expecting to see the female brooding on this masterpiece . . . it was GONE. Now, I know that male house wrens construct a number of make-shift nests to display to their wives, and I know that the wives reject these poor efforts but condescend to take one apart and rebuild it satisfactorily. But the gnatcatcher nest was a joint effort and appeared perfect. They didn't just abandon it--they totally disassembled it. What's up with that?
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